While attempting to download a pdf version of a roleplaying game adventure from Paizo.com's download section, an online market that carries products made by Paizo as well as other more obscure game publishers, I was rudely surprised when I discovered that Paizo would not accept payment thru Paypal. Angered, I promptly located the site of the game publisher, Expeditious Retreat Press, and to my surprise, I could not make any purchase via Paypal. My curiosity having been piqued, I surfed the indie roleplaying forums and discovered that several online sellers refused to use Paypal. Further investigation revealed the ff site http://www.paypalsucks.com/
At first I wasn't worried, the internet is crammed full of websites that are simply hate attacks on anything and everything that is beneficial to man. However, upon examining the data available on the site, I began to have doubts over my continued patronage of Paypal. The ff are some of the reasons for my alarm:
1. If you read and accept PayPal's ToS (Terms of Service) you are in effect waiving your rights to credit card consumer protection laws against unauthorized charges, and you may not issue a chargeback for anything you purchase using your credit card and PayPal account that you are unsatisfied with.
2. Paypal used to hide their telephone number, intentionally, and only provided support via "form" emails. The only reason their number can be found now is because they were forced to by law (EFTA Electronic Funds Transaction Act).
3. Paypal can unilaterally freeze and debit accounts with no process of appeal available to the account holders. Paypal is judge, jury and executioner.
4. Paypal unilaterally changes its TOS without notice to the account holders.
Whoa! But is it true? As a Paypal user, I have never encountered any problems with the services of Paypal even when I made purchases from certain adult sites and it would be improbable for Paypal to have grown to such a size and dominated its competitors so thoroughly if it gave lousy service.
Regardless of the danger of abuses of Paypal, users like myself are held hostage by the lack of any real alternative. How else can we download the latest "adult spectacular" or make a purchase of a Psylocke action figure variant? Use our credit cards and run the risk of our account getting hacked?
At least, American users have adequate consumer protection as their Congress enacts laws such as EFTA which are tailored for companies that have a business model like Paypal's but we Filipinos seem to have to rely on the provisions in our New Civil Code as a basis for any claim against Paypal should the need arise. The General Banking Law might be a viable alternative as the acts of Paypal could be analogous to the deposit taking activities of banks. However, the choice of which law can be made to apply to Paypal seems to be one of characterization that only courts can make so until someone files a claim against Paypal or other online money transmitters in our courts, the remedies available against abuses of such corporations remain academic.
Sadly, E-Governance insofar as new and effective legislation to protect online purchasers and sellers seems not high on the list of objectives of the Philippine government.
At first I wasn't worried, the internet is crammed full of websites that are simply hate attacks on anything and everything that is beneficial to man. However, upon examining the data available on the site, I began to have doubts over my continued patronage of Paypal. The ff are some of the reasons for my alarm:
1. If you read and accept PayPal's ToS (Terms of Service) you are in effect waiving your rights to credit card consumer protection laws against unauthorized charges, and you may not issue a chargeback for anything you purchase using your credit card and PayPal account that you are unsatisfied with.
2. Paypal used to hide their telephone number, intentionally, and only provided support via "form" emails. The only reason their number can be found now is because they were forced to by law (EFTA Electronic Funds Transaction Act).
3. Paypal can unilaterally freeze and debit accounts with no process of appeal available to the account holders. Paypal is judge, jury and executioner.
4. Paypal unilaterally changes its TOS without notice to the account holders.
Whoa! But is it true? As a Paypal user, I have never encountered any problems with the services of Paypal even when I made purchases from certain adult sites and it would be improbable for Paypal to have grown to such a size and dominated its competitors so thoroughly if it gave lousy service.
Regardless of the danger of abuses of Paypal, users like myself are held hostage by the lack of any real alternative. How else can we download the latest "adult spectacular" or make a purchase of a Psylocke action figure variant? Use our credit cards and run the risk of our account getting hacked?
At least, American users have adequate consumer protection as their Congress enacts laws such as EFTA which are tailored for companies that have a business model like Paypal's but we Filipinos seem to have to rely on the provisions in our New Civil Code as a basis for any claim against Paypal should the need arise. The General Banking Law might be a viable alternative as the acts of Paypal could be analogous to the deposit taking activities of banks. However, the choice of which law can be made to apply to Paypal seems to be one of characterization that only courts can make so until someone files a claim against Paypal or other online money transmitters in our courts, the remedies available against abuses of such corporations remain academic.
Sadly, E-Governance insofar as new and effective legislation to protect online purchasers and sellers seems not high on the list of objectives of the Philippine government.
No comments:
Post a Comment